Disc drives are digital data storage devices which store and retrieve large amounts of user data in a fast and efficient manner. The data are magnetically recorded on the surfaces of one or more data storage discs (media) affixed to a spindle motor for rotation at a constant high speed.
An array of vertically aligned data transducing heads are controllably positioned by an actuator to read data from and write data to tracks defined on the recording surfaces. An actuator motor rotates the actuator to move the heads across the disc surfaces. The heads are configured to be hydrodynamically supported adjacent the disc surfaces by fluidic pressures established by the high speed rotation of the discs.
It is generally desirable to control the interior fluidic environment within a data storage device housing. Seals are often employed to prevent the ingress of contaminants from the external environment. Moreover, some device designers have proposed hermetically sealed designs that utilize a lower density atmosphere, such as an inert gas (helium, etc.), to allow the device achieve higher levels of operational performance.
Disc drive designers are constrained by a number of factors, including continually reduced form factors and internal clearance issues, to provide effective internal fluidic control. With the continued demand for higher performance data storage devices, there remains a continual need for improved housing configurations, and it is these and other improvements that the claimed invention is generally directed.